Jealous
by nonsensewriter
Summary: After seeing Bonnie with an old friend, Damon starts to realize he may have been repressing his feelings for her.
1. Chapter 1

Standing side by side with his brother outside Bonnie's door on a Thursday night was the last thing Damon wanted to do but Elena suggested that he should actually apologize to Bonnie. Since they've started their relationship, Bonnie has been distancing herself from Elena and she thinks that if he attempts to make amends with Bonnie, their friendship will get back on track. And even though he knew it was going to take more than an apology for him for Bonnie and Elena to get to where they were he decided to just go with it instead of bursting her bubble.

"I know you're in there." He says repeatedly knocking on the door, ignoring Stefan's attempts of getting him to stop. He already didn't want to be here, he just wanted to say he was sorry and go. Any conversation between him and Bonnie that went beyond three minutes usually ended in an argument and he didn't have the time for that.

"Look, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to be here. But…" He trails off when the door opens and he's greeted with the sight of Bonnie standing on the other side, a face full of makeup, half of her hair pulled back while the rest hangs over her shoulders in loose waves, white gold chandelier earrings dangling from her ears. Letting his eyes trail down her body he sees she's in a white lace two piece dress paired with white pumps, a white clutch in her hands.

"Damon, Stefan," Bonnie frowns looking back and forth between the two brothers "what are you doing here?"

When neither say anything Bonnie opens her clutch, pulling out her phone, growing more confused by their presence when she doesn't see any missed calls or unread texts.

"Are you going somewhere?"

"Um, yeah." She smiles, taking a step outside, pulling the door closed behind her.

"Where?"

"Out."

"Out, where?" Damon asks as he starts to trail her.

"I have a date."

Damon isn't sure why but he feels a wave of anger wash over him. He knows it isn't Jeremy, he had overheard Elena talking to him on the phone just a few hours ago. So who the hell could she being going on a date with? It didn't matter because there was no way in hell he was about to let this happen.

"No."

"No?" Bonnie raises an eyebrow, turning to face him.

"No." Damon confirms, ignoring the look he's getting from Stefan.

"Why not?"

"I wanted to apologize for what happened with Abby."

"Okay, apology accepted." Bonnie shrugs wondering what brought this on though she knows it can be summed up in one word. Elena. She manages to not roll her eyes as she opens her car door, groaning when Damon closes it, leaning against the door "Damon."

"That's it? No whining about how it wasn't sincere and how you you know it's just bull-"

"Damon, I honestly could not give less of a damn about getting an apology from you. Because like you said I think―I know that it's not sincere. If you're worried about me going back to Elena or whatever, don't. Your secret is safe with me, promise. Now can you please move?"

"No."

Bonnie lets out a deep breath and turns to face Stefan, smiling when she sees his gaze traveling up until he meets her eyes before clearing his throat as he looks away. Her smile turning into a grin when she realizes what he was staring at. While the feminist in her wants to slap him, the rest of her is kind of flattered that she of all people caused Stefan to temporarily drop his gentleman act. "Stefan."

Stefan swallows and returns his attention to Bonnie, still embarrassed at being caught.

"Why exactly are you here?"

"You want me to leave?"

"No," Bonnie shakes her head after a brief pause "I just wanted to know why you came when you've already apologized for what happened."

"Elena thought he'd be a good buffer."

Bonnie frowns at Damon's answer. While usually that would make sense, she wonders what the hell is wrong with Elena considering that Stefan was going to kill her. Maybe she didn't know that part of the story, though it wouldn't surprise her if she did. Somehow through all the things Stefan has done, he was still seen as the good brother. After that night Bonnie learned that there was no good brother. Only one was better at hiding his monster while the other embraced it. Dangling it out in the open for everyone to see as if it were his pride and joy.

"Well," she sighs flipping her hair over her shoulders "I'll see you guys later." She smiles turning on her heel when she sees a black car stop in her peripheral, telling Damon that she only needed to get a sweater from her car but she doesn't necessarily need it. Laughing when he suggests getting it for her.

Damon starts to insist when he sees a tall man with brown skin, a shaven head and brown eyes greeting Bonnie with a smile. Scowling when he hears him compliment her before she presses her lips to his, opening the door for her when she pulls away. Damon stands at his full height when the man looks at him, giving him a once over before turning his attention to Stefan doing the same. A smirk on his face as he gives them both a small wave after seemingly sizing them up.

"Nice to see you too." He smiles when neither Damon or Stefan return his greeting after closing the door after Bonnie, once he sees she's seated.

"You know him?" Stefan asks watching as they drive off, having picked up on the hostility between the two.

"Marcel Gerard." Damon replies "Think you in the twenties, minus the whole Ripper thing."

Stefan raises his eyebrows "You think Bonnie knows?"

"She's a witch Stefan, what do you think?"

* * *

When Damon pulls into a parking spot the next day at Mystic Falls High School to pick Elena up, he briefly contemplates waiting or just going inside to get Elena himself. He decides on the latter and gets out and makes his way towards the front doors of the school. As soon as he walks in he sees Elena talking to Caroline at her locker and starts to go over to them but stops when he spots Bonnie digging through her bag. Not wanting to have to hear Caroline talk about whatever has her waving her hands around animatedly he strolls over to his little witch and casually leans against the locker right next to hers waiting for her to close the door to her locker so he's the first thing she sees when she's done forcing her books inside.

"Where's your boyfriend?" Damon asks, trademark smirk on his face when he sees that he's scared her.

"He's not my boyfriend." Bonnie replies once her heart stops racing, hiking her bag on her shoulder adjusting the books resting in the crook of her arm as she turns to face him.

"So you just go around kissing random guys now?"

As soon as the words leave his mouth he tenses and closes his eyes "Bon," He sighs.

Bonnie's first instinct is to send him to his knees, make him beg for her to stop all the while she calls him every name in the book but she forces it down. Damon is the last person worth her breath so she simply lets an incredulous laugh pass her lips as she walks around him. Not in the least bit surprised when he suddenly blocks her path but what does surprise her is the look in his eyes as he stares down at her.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"Then what _did_ you mean it like?"

Silence.

"Exactly." Bonnie looks at him "I'm not asking for an apology, Damon. We both know that they don't mean shit, so don't bother with them. It's a waste of time. Besides, you shouldn't have to apologize for something that _you_ don't think you should have to be sorry about. Do it because you actually feel bad. And we both know when it comes to me you never have and probably never will so just stop. It's insulting."

Damon blinks, not sure what to say. Leave it to Bonnie to teach him something and cut it to him quick at the same time without even trying. When she walks around him he's tempted to go after her but he can't bring himself to do so. What would he say? And to make it worse he hears the blondes sum up his thoughts exactly,

"Ouch." Caroline looks at Damon sympathetically, having heard every word Bonnie said to him. While she agrees wholeheartedly with her best friend she still feels for the older Salvatore despite her own issues with him.

"Don't hurt him Bon." Matt smiles as he falls into step with her, nodding in agreement when she tells him that someone needed to say it.

"You okay?"

Damon blinks and looks up to see Elena staring at him with those doe eyes as she rubs his arm.

"Yeah," He answers with a half hearted smirk.

Elena gives him a look but relents and walks right along next to him to the front doors after waving to Caroline and Tyler. When she steps outside she stills when she hears a laugh she hasn't heard in a _long_ time, she looks around until she spots the source, a smile pulling at the corner of her mouth when she sees Bonnie scooped up in a guy's arms. Blinking when she sees Bonnie pull him down into her, clearly not shy about p.d.a.. But a frown settles on her features when she looks up to see Damon staring at them looking as if he's about to burst.

"Damon?"

"Let's go."

Elena doesn't get the chance to even try to protest before she complies and starts to walk along with Damon, though it doesn't stop her from looking back to Bonnie frowning when she sees Caroline bumping Bonnie away from him with her hip pulling him into a hug. Making Elena think that this isn't the first time she's seeing him. Her suspicions confirmed when she hears Caroline say that it's good to see him again before asking about their date because Bonnie wouldn't give her any details and she can't help but feel a twinge. She used to be the first person that got to meet Bonnie's boyfriends and the first to know her crush and vice versa but it looks like Caroline has taken her place.

* * *

When Stefan walks into the living room he sees his brother sitting down in a chair with a bottle of bourbon in his hand.

That's never a good sign.

"Damon?" He calls his brother name warily as he slowly approaches him.

"Relax Stefan, I'm just not in the mood to go back and forth for another-"

"Bullshit."

Damon blinks in surprise, not even in his brother's Ripper binges has he ever heard him curse. Though when he had no emotions, Stefan didn't exactly need to use expletives to get someone in their feelings. Or throw them off of their game.

"Excuse me?"

"Caroline told me about what happened with Bonnie yesterday."

"Caroline needs to learn to keep her mouth shut." Damon grumbles in response before taking a deep swig.

"You want to get on someone else's bad side today?" Caroline narrows her eyes at Damon when he turns to face her, though he misses the smirk on her face when he turns his attention to her left watching intently as Bonnie walks in, in a dark blue off the shoulder dress paired with black spiked heels.

 _Is that a tattoo?_ Damon frowns when his eyes spot black ink on the inside of her wrist when she pushes her hair back.

"Hot date?" Stefan smiles at Bonnie who blushes as she looks down.

"Caroline forced Marcel and I to go out with her for drinks."

It's then that Damon notices that Caroline is in a blue skater dress with the sides cut out paired with black ankle boots.

"I did not force, he offered."

"Yeah, after you kept saying that you needed a drink." Bonnie shakes her head in amusement.

"Where are you guys going?"

Everyone turns to see Elena walking down the stairs, a slight smile on her face when she sees her friends.

"Um, we just…" Bonnie trails off.

"Marcel took Bonnie and I out for drinks." Caroline steps in.

"Marcel?" Elena raises an eyebrow, figuring that's the guy's name from yesterday but wants confirmation.

"Bonnie's _boyfriend_." Caroline smiles nudging Bonnie ignoring the eye roll she gets in return.

Elena feels her heart sink at their exchange, her insecurities getting the best of her. Caroline actually had taken her spot.

"Bonnie…"

"I was going to tell you but you…" Bonnie lets out a breath "You're never really around anymore." She finally says deciding to just rip off the bandaid. She couldn't keep it in for forever, but when she sees the hurt look on Elena's face she feels a twinge. Giving Caroline a thankful look when she steps in,

"Damon, you called us for an emergency meeting."

Damon sets the bottle down and starts to tell them about the plans for the trip to Nova Scotia. Giving a look to Bonnie making it clear to her that he's not happy about her recent change of attitude when it comes to helping him.

When Bonnie sees the look Damon gives her she almost loses it but she gives him a sweet smile instead, knowing that it'll only infuriate him smirking when she sees the annoyance in his eyes before going on about their travel arrangements. When she hears that the Originals are joining she can't help but feel annoyed. She has nothing against Rebekah, the chick has never done anything to her personally but she's not looking forward to having Klaus tag along. Once he stops talking she takes that as a sign of the meeting being over and she gets up from her seat smiling when she sees that Caroline has done the same and they laugh before making their way out of the boarding house. Only to both groan when Damon asks them where they're going.

"Not that it's any of your business, but I have a date with Tyler."

"I'm going to catch a movie with Matt." Bonnie shrugs rolling her eyes when Damon makes a comment about Marcel.

"It's not Matt that Marcel has a problem with." She smiles when Damon looks like he wants to jump up from his seat, before realization dawns on him.

"You know?"

"He mentioned it when he saw you and Stefan and it's needless to say that he didn't like being compared to Stefan's...dark side."

"Bonnie, he's not a good guy." Damon says as he gets up from his seat.

"And you are?" she frowns, crossing her arms over her chest, meeting his eyes as he walks over to her "In case you haven't noticed, good guys don't really exist. Everyone has a dark side. Everyone has a past. I'm not holding yours against you so why should I do that to him?"

Damon chuckles "You barely say two words to me but you think you're not holding my past against me?"

"How is that any different than what we did before? The only time we even talk is when it has something to do with saving Elena or when you need my help. So where the hell is this coming from? Why is this a problem all of a sudden?"

"It's not." Damon replies just a little too quickly.

"Then _act_ like it." Bonnie snaps staring up at him, holding his stare, neither of them blinking.

"Um...Bonnie?"

"Damon."

Caroline and Stefan briefly share a glance both slightly amused, grins on their faces when Damon and Bonnie turn to Stefan and Caroline respectively.

"You still want me to drop you off at Matt's?"

"No, Stefan's going to drive me home. I don't want you to be late for your date." Bonnie replies turning her back to Damon.

"Are you sure? I can always reschedule or push it back, I'm sure he won't mind."

Bonnie smiles appreciating Caroline's offer but she knows that she wants to see Tyler so she nods her head "I'm sure."

"If you need me, call me, okay?" Caroline waits until Bonnie responds before turning to leave.

"Okay." Bonnie smiles watching as she takes off, "Goodbye Elena." She says over her shoulder as she walks towards the door not bothering to wait for Stefan.

"Bye Bonnie." Elena replies sadly, she wanted to talk to her before she left but she decides against it having recognized the tone of her voice.

"I guess I'll be right back." Stefan says still amused that Bonnie essentially forced him into being her driver.

"You don't have to actually drive me home." Bonnie says after taking her phone away from her ear when she sees Stefan approaching her "I can walk, I just didn't want to give Damon another reason to hear himself talk."

Stefan laughs, he couldn't help himself, Bonnie had his brother down to a tee.

"Do you want to walk?"

Bonnie shrugs, letting out a breath when Stefan wordlessly takes her hand leading her down the driveway and onto the sidewalk.

Bonnie opens her mouth once they hit the five minute mark,

"He's like a five year old trapped in a grown man's body. How have you dealt with that without flipping out and staking him?"

"I find reprieves in snapping his neck." Stefan shrugs, smiling when he sees her smile "He's my brother, Bonnie. No matter how much I hate him, I couldn't _actually_ kill him. I want to but I can't bring myself to. I'd be a wreck without him."

Bonnie refrains from pointing out that he ruined two relationships that Stefan thought would be a constant in his life in the course of a year and a half. Plus, she didn't have any brothers or sisters so she couldn't really speak on if any sibling bond is strong enough to look over that.

"Go on," Stefan says when he sees her obviously holding her tongue "say it."

"He killed your best friend and stole your girlfriend. And unless I'm wrong, he's been the cause for the times you've gone off the rails. And he wasn't the one to pull you back on. Yeah, he's tried but the person to always succeed died at his hands. I understand forgiveness, really I do but I couldn't forgive that. I'm not trying to turn you against him." Bonnie shakes her head when Stefan looks at her "But I don't get how his death would wreck you. I'm not saying your reaction should be singing from the rooftops or anything but I just don't get it."

"To love Damon is to hate Damon."

Bonnie blinks before frowning at Stefan not liking what she thinks he's implying.

"That's how he gets to you. He gets under your skin and you can do anything to try to get him out but it doesn't work."

"I don't hate Damon." Bonnie denies knowing that he's not talking about himself.

"Okay." Stefan shrugs letting her hand go.

Bonnie frowns but then realizes they're right in front of her house.

"Thank you." She mutters turning away from him, it's not until she reaches her door that she realizes what the smirk on his face is for. And before she can call him out on it he disappears in a flash after giving her a small wave.

 _To love Damon is to hate Damon._ Bonnie makes a 'Pfft.' sound. What sense did that make anyway?

* * *

Damon sighs as Elena asks him for what has to be the tenth time what his little exchange with Bonnie was about and just like the last ten times he replies,

"I just don't like her boyfriend."

He expects her to ask him the same question but she shocks him,

"How can you not like someone you don't even know?"

Damon decides to just bite the bullet.

"I do know him. We actually used to be friends."

Elena frowns, tempted to ask why she didn't know about this but stops, knowing Damon will probably tell her if she keeps her mouth shut long enough.

"While Stefan was off the edge, I was in New Orleans." he decides to leave his reasoning for going there out of it "When I rolled into town a building was on fire. I heard screams and groans and I thought that maybe if I saved a few lives that would make up for me accidently pushing Stefan off of his rocker. So I went in and after saving a couple of women I saw Marcel on the stage. I was about to leave but I heard that he was still breathing so I bared it all. After I picked him up I sensed he was a vampire and I was going to leave him but he reeked of vervain so I dragged him out. And I quickly found out that that I didn't save someone worth risking my ass for."

Elena frowns and opens her mouth wanting to know what he means. She and Bonnie may not have the relationship they used have at the moment but she doesn't want her best friend with anyone dangerous.

"Don't ask any questions you're not ready to hear the answers too, Elena." Damon says with an even tone of voice.

"Okay," she says lowly "so you're just trying to protect Bonnie?"

"Something like that." Stefan smiles as he walks past the couple, stifling a laugh at the look he gets from Damon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Well first things first; thank you for the all of the follows, favorites and reviews, they are very much appreciated :)**

* * *

It was supposed to be date night. A night out for just the _two_ of them. At least that was what Damon was led to believe. But apparently Elena had trapped him. That was the immediate conclusion that Damon came to when he walked deeper into the restaurant Elena chose to drag him to and saw Bonnie and Marcel looking awfully cozy in a booth. Bonnie giggling when Marcel whispers something in her ear before nuzzling his nose in her neck. A scowl settles on Damon's features when he hears a sharp intake of breath before Bonnie suddenly turns and grabs Marcel by his neck pulling him into her. The lights dimming as soon as his lips meet hers, briefly startling the other guests.

He jumps when he hears Elena call Bonnie's name, watching as the witch pulls away and looks around for who called her, blinking in surprise when her eyes land on Elena. Maybe it was a coincidence. Because when Marcel follows Bonnie's gaze to Elena, spotting Damon right next to her he looks just as taken back, a smile appearing on his face when Elena abandons Damon in favor of running over to greet Bonnie who plasters a smile on her face as she gets up from her seat. Which throws Damon off, that's the smile Bonnie typically reserves for him when they're out in public and she doesn't want people to see the side of her that she usually shows to him and those in her inner circle, those who already know how she feels about him.

Damon knew how Bonnie felt about his relationship with Elena but he never expected for her feelings for him extend to Elena. When he sees Bonnie's eyes meet his as she returns Elena's hugs he tenses. Unsure of what to do, while usually he would smirk or mockingly wave at her he merely stands there holding her stare until she pulls away from Elena's embrace, her attention going back to Elena, an actual smile on her face this time. Fighting the urge to roll his eyes when he hears a sigh of relief pass her lips once she looks to her right to see Marcel standing next to her, looking down in an attempt to hide her blush when Elena clears her throat, seemingly embarrassed at being caught.

"Elena, this is Marcel. Marcel this is Elena." Bonnie introduces the two, raising an eyebrow when she looks like she's about to pass out but waves it off remembering that was Caroline's reaction when she met him too.

When Damon sees Marcel offering his hand to Elena with that trademark grin on his face as he tells her that it's finally nice to meet her, Elena beaming as she replies in kind. He immediately walks over to them when it seems that her appearance finally clicks. His suspicions confirmed when Marcel briefly flits his eyes to his. Giving him a questioning look. To which Damon replies with a warning one.

"You can sit with us if you want." Marcel offers, his smile growing wider once he sees the look in Damon's eyes. Almost as if he wants to strangle him right then and there.

When Damon sees Elena open her mouth he knows it's to accept but before she can do so his phone chimes along with Bonnie's. That's never a good thing. Despite this he turns his attention to Bonnie who has her phone in her hand groaning when she reads the message. He can tell it's taking everything in her not to scream and he's right there along with her. He waits for her to look at him but instead she has a glare sent Elena's way who only tilts her head in return.

"What?" She asks taken back by the look she's getting from Bonnie.

"I think that's our line." Damon steps in "Anything you forgot tell us?"

Bonnie shakes her head, lifting her hand to stop Damon from going further but keeps her eyes on Elena,

"Let's just have this one night before we get sucked back into…" Bonnie refrains from waving her hand around the brunette looking like the poster child for clueless, unable to wrap her mind around the apparent fact that Elena actually thinks she can take down a homicidal lunatic along with Jeremy and not even run it by her and Damon from the look she saw on his face "this. If it's that important we'll get another text and then we'll deal with it but for now. Let's just have one night of normalcy."

Damon's tempted to shake his head and say 'Hell no.' but he knows that will get back to Stefan and he'll run with it. So he refrains and nods his head, taking Elena's hand and looking over his shoulder to the waiter who immediately walks over to them and starts to lead them to another booth once it becomes clear to him that Bonnie is still on her Salvatore free binge since she has yet to even acknowledge him besides their brief look earlier.

"Maybe another time." Marcel smiles when Elena looks back at him and Bonnie, the latter of which who gives her a small smile and mouths 'Later, promise.' to which Elena beams and nods. Watching as Bonnie seamlessly falls back into her and Marcel's earlier behavior as if their encounter never happened. And to that, she frowns.

Throughout their dinner Damon effortlessly plays the part of the perfect boyfriend. Listening to Elena as she talks about various topics, that to his surprise are nothing of Bonnie continuing to shut her out. He briefly wonders what changed considering that was what she had been stuck on for the past week. He eventually comes to the conclusion that she thinks everything is okay again since Bonnie didn't ignore her and seemed to be okay with Damon based on the fact that they hadn't gotten into an argument.

When the witch crosses his mind he looks over to her table and sees Marcel giving her a quick peck on the lips before standing up heading in the direction of the men's room. He takes advantage of Elena taking a sip of her wine and quickly excuses himself, kissing the back of her hand before making his exit, smirking at the small smile on her face. Putting on his best poker face, as he breezes past Bonnie who he sees tense but otherwise keeps her attention on her phone. Once in the hallway he casually leans against the wall, immediately grabbing Marcel as soon as he walks out, speeding them outside into the alley just across the street from the restaurant. Scowling at the greeting he receives having expected him to at least look taken back.

"Damon, I was wondering when I would actually hear from you." Marcel grins allowing him to hold him against the wall.

* * *

" _You're trying to rewrite history."_

That was the sentence that was echoing in his mind after his talk with Marcel.

If he could call it that. Like many of Damon's plans, his little confrontation with his former friend hadn't gone the way he had expected. Sure he got answers but along with that he also been...taken down. Not that he'd ever actually admit it. After essentially demanding that Marcel told him what he was doing here, accusing Marcel of using Bonnie to get to him and telling him to just go to the Originals already. He found out that; Marcel didn't even know Bonnie knew him until he saw him and Stefan at Bonnie's house that night―to say that was a blow to his ego would be putting it lightly―and that Marcel had already had his run ins with the Originals while he was out with Bonnie. Who apparently did not care in the slightest. He found that out of character for Bonnie but with her recent change of attitude, he wouldn't put it past her. As for what he was doing here? Simple; Bonnie. It didn't hit Damon what he _might've_ been implying until he got home.

But he was starting to figure Marcel's words were right nonetheless.

In a perfect world he and his brother weren't fated to always love the same girl. They weren't always at each each other's throats, fighting for her affections. And even if that were the case, _he_ earned the girl the right way. He didn't have to do underhanded things or essentially steal her from his brother, but this wasn't a perfect world. Damon had done exactly that and then some. From this realization, words from little Bonnie Bennett popped in his head and practically held hands with Marcel's,

" _You build your happiness on other people's pain."_

How...ironic.

A person from his past, and one from his present teaching him something that he should have known from the start. And in a sense he did. He just didn't care.

Bonnie had dropped that bomb on him a little after the situation with Abby, after his 'apology' she lost it. Sent him to his knees, raging about how she knew he wasn't sorry at all. That he wanted to do it, he wanted to be the one that saved Elena's life. To be the hero. Elena's knight in shining armour. And that he could say that he wouldn't have done that to her all he wants but if it were just her that night, she would have died and unlike Abby she wouldn't have gone through with the transition, because she didn't want to take the chance of becoming anything like him or his brother. In the end she wiped his memory of it and attempted to replace it with what he continued to go along with to this day " _There's always a choice."_ but that dam broke as soon as he fed from the vein later on that night. Drained a woman dry because Bonnie got him in a mood only to reveal that she had hit him way harder than he had originally thought. He wonders if she had done that just to spite him, or if her spell was weakened because of how emotional she was that day. Either way, despite what they all thought―Elena and Katherine were the only ones that were capable of actually hurting his feelings―Bonnie could do it just as well. When it came to the Petrova's he acted out, it was always expected. But Bonnie was in a league of her own. When she got him in his feelings, he felt as if he was a child that was put on timeout. Sent to a corner, forced to think about what he did wrong. Forced to _actually_ learn something.

When that clicked he groaned and tried to veer his mind off of this train of thought. Because for some reason Bonnie wasn't talking to him. She was full blown out ignoring him. He doubted it was from anger because even when they were fighting or when she was angry with him she would still allow him in her vicinity. Shoot him the occasional glare when he said something snarky even though she was pretending as if she wasn't listening to a word he said. Even through their spats, they would only have to look at the other to know how they felt about something and if they didn't agree with one of the group's plans they broke off and did their own thing. They still got shit done.

But now?

Nothing.

The only time he would even get to actually see her or hear her voice was when they had meetings, or at least had two other people around. And even then she wouldn't look at him. He knew because his eyes were constantly on her. Whether he was out right staring at her or sneaking glances out the corner of his eyes. And he didn't get to try to hold her back after meetings because Elena always distracted him. And he couldn't get her alone because she was always with... _him_. Or had her blonde pitbull around who would always glare at him if he managed to get within twenty feet of their 'personal bubble' and he couldn't eavesdrop on her conversations, anytime he tried it felt like someone pierced his eardrum with a screwdriver.

All that aside he wasn't sure if her avoidance was because of his 'run in' with Marcel or if it was because of his brother. It really could go either way. But he'd be willing to bet on the latter since she stopped answering his calls after their walk. He didn't get the cold shoulder until his impromptu vamp-nap on her current boy toy. Or maybe it was because of his with hold on the recent light of the sire bond. In his defense he thought she already knew.

" _Maybe Bonnie just decided that she's had enough of you."_

That was Matt's two cents and he briefly considered that before snorting and wiping his memory. If Matt ever became a vampire, he would have to stake him. There was no way word could spread that he stooped so low to go to the Quarterback for anything besides a blood donation.

"Are you brooding?"

Damon rolls his eyes when he's brought out of his thoughts by his brother spotting him leaning against the doorway, a smirk on his face. Instead of answering he drops his gaze to the glass in his hand and tenses.

"Bon suggested I start drinking again, thinks Supernatural blood is the curb to the addiction."

Though the explanation itself should be what he focuses on or at least ring a few bells in his head, he can't get over the fact that Stefan has apparently become comfortable enough to address her by her nickname. Or that Bonnie was even talking to Stefan, having thought that she cut him off too. However before he can address that he narrows his eyes when he catches a familiar scent in the air. And by the flash of amusement in his brother's eyes as he takes a long drink from his glass, having the audacity to lick his lips afterwards he feels anger wash over him. The next thing he knows he's standing in his brother's previous spot while Stefan is now on the couch, a shit eating grin on his face as he watches Damon walk towards him.

"Hello Elena." Stefan smiles seeing Elena stroll into the living room, stifling a laugh at the look Damon gives him that sends his message loud and clear, " _Later."_ And he gives a brief nod in response. Wondering if his brother is having the same sense of deja vu he is.

"Stefan." Elena gives him a polite smile though she's wary after seeing the glass in his hand, flitting her eyes to Damon hoping he's not trying to help him with his blood addiction again.

Seeing the question in her eyes Damon looks exasperated but answers anyway,

"Actually this is the work of your bestie."

Elena frowns, wondering why Caroline thought this would be a good idea, already knowing Bonnie would never condone this. So when she hears footsteps approaching her she turns around greeting the blonde with a frown not bothering to glance at Bonnie who looks just as confused as Caroline does wondering what could have possibly changed within the past minute.

"No, no. Not that one." Damon says once he sees her glare is set on Caroline "That one." He points at Bonnie who to his surprise actually looks at him and doesn't seem the least bit bothered by his actions or his presence. A curse is the first to his mind but he doesn't get to dwell on it for long.

"Bonnie, you know that he can't-"

"Actually he can." Bonnie cuts her off walking over to sit by Stefan, dragging her finger along her wrist watching along with everyone else as Stefan's visage briefly flickers just as much as theirs when blood oozes from her self inflicted wound "I've been having Stefan on the...people stuff" she smiles at him when he looks annoyed "for a couple of weeks now. And he's been doing fine. I haven't found any dead bodies or heard of any missing people since we started so unless he's been extra careful he's not hurting anyone."

"Okay…" Caroline drags out the words slowly "Why didn't you tell us?"

"It wasn't mine to tell. Stefan didn't want anyone to know because of what's happening right now, and he knew that everyone would be watching his every move."

"So you're fine with a known Ripper drinking from the vein?" Damon frowns ignoring his brother's scoff.

"Except he's not." Bonnie denies "We haven't gotten there yet. We're still working on his intake."

"Where's the blood coming from?"

"I'm taking advantage of the favors I'm owed from my time in New Orleans. I thought it would be best if he started drinking from a wolf. Toxic bite...more conscious of his intake. But as a security measure I stripped it of its toxin." Bonnie looks at Stefan pointedly who casually downs the last of his glass and sets it on the table.

"But if I still have a little left over from her weekly delivery, she lets me tap a vein as a treat." Stefan smiles at his brother.

Bonnie rolls her eyes knowing he's only trying to get a rise out of Damon, deciding to explain when she sees the crazed look in Damon's eyes.

"Stefan has been my test dummy" she suppresses the urge to smile at his scoff "for some spells I've been testing and creating for my Grimoire for the past month. And they sometimes require my blood. Others have ended in some battle wounds. So instead of just leaving it on the ground, or as a stain on my clothes, or just wiping it off or whatever. I use my magick to preserve my essence and put it in a vial. But with everything going on we kind of fell off and I didn't get to restock his supply...I let him have it."

"And Marcel is okay with Stefan feeding from you?"

"No," Bonnie shakes her head "he's definitely not okay with it." she adds looking annoyed "But it's not like I'm letting Stefan drink from me directly."

"Then why do you have a bite mark on your neck?"

Bonnie's eyes widen and she immediately slaps her hand over her neck, as she starts to dig through her purse until she finds her compact and sure enough,

"Son of a" she stops and takes a deep breath, ignoring the amused look she's getting from Caroline and the look of surprise of Elena's "That's not from Stefan."

"Well, not that this hasn't been fun but I have to go." Bonnie mutters getting up from her seat, slinging her purse over her shoulder. Having decided to cut their girl's night short.

"Bonnie." Elena calls after her, letting her shoulders slump when she hears the door close. Frowning when she turns around to see Damon gone and Caroline reluctantly handing over a twenty dollar bill to Stefan.

Bonnie hasn't even made it past the porch when she senses him right behind her. Going against her instinct to keep walking she slowly turns around and watches as Damon nearly closes the space between them.

"Think before you speak Damon." She warns, fighting back a smirk when he closes his mouth.

"I know, Marcel. If he knew that anyone was drinking your blood, he would tear their throat out."

Damon waits for her to flinch but it never comes and he wonders what happened to her. He wants to ask as much but her response, causes him to roll his eyes wanting to point out that he didn't even know her back then but deep down he knows that that wouldn't matter to him. Besides the latter of her response nearly leaves him speechless.

"And what do you think he'd do if he found out that someone nearly drained me dry?" she fires back, nodding when Damon huffs, rolling his eyes "Marcel does not own me. I know that that may be hard for you to understand considering how possessive you are of Elena and how you have to literally restrain yourself from snapping your own brother's neck just because he tells her hello. But not every relationship consists of seeing the person you're with as your property. Most relationships consider seeing each other as your equal, as their own person, free to do whatever they want. Trusting that they're capable of being friends with people from the opposite sex and not just using that as a guise to sneak around. But with that being said I'm now aware that that merely comes with the territory of being with a vampire. I don't keep secrets from who I date and I don't see the point in lying. So it's a compromise. I don't like how he...handles things. He doesn't like that I'm helping Stefan. We fight and then we move on."

"You don't get it, Bonnie."

"Actually I do. Like you said Marcel would tear his throat out, and he almost did. Obviously I talked him down and then I learned about how intimate or personal the whole thing is to vampires, so that" she hooks her thumb over her shoulder "was Stefan's first and last dose. And that's only because I didn't have the time to restock and I didn't want to risk him slipping up and let his monster out."

"So that was his last bite."

"No." Bonnie says, it's on the tip of her tongue to admit that she actually likes that someone wants to claim her but she stops herself. Half because of how inappropriate it is, the rest because of who she's talking too, but she knows he's just going to push her for an answer so she tries to gather her thoughts to put it in the nicest way she can say it.

"Why?" Damon asks despite not wanting to hear the answer.

"It's kind of nice to have someone that wants to know that I'm taken. Someone that wants to keep other people away from me because they're secretly afraid to lose me." Bonnie smiles before sobering, walking around Damon before he can respond, stopping mid step with a frown on her face when she hears,

" _He shouldn't have to bite you for you to know that. I'm not trying to keep you away from him for my health."_

But when she turns around she sees that Damon still has his back to her, and she knows that if he had actually said those words out loud he would've been meeting her gaze head on. She's just about to ask him what he is trying to run Marcel off for but Elena chooses that moment to step outside, walking up to Damon, cupping his face asking him another question that Bonnie wants the answer to but she walks away before he answers not wanting to linger. Just because their relationship doesn't bother her as much as it use too, doesn't mean she wants to see it in action.

"Damon, what's wrong?"

That's what he was trying to figure out.


	3. Chapter 3

**I should have stated this before, but like most of my stories, this doesn't exactly have a plot so if that kind of thing bothers you, I apologize.**

* * *

Bonnie said five minutes, he gave her five minutes.

Ignoring Caroline's smile, his brother's smirk and Elena's calling after him he continues to make his way out of the living room where they were supposed to be having a meeting. Apparently the town decided that they were long overdue for another ridiculous, but totally reasonable in their eyes ball. Which under normal circumstances wouldn't concern him but Carol Lockwood let it slip that it was actually Klaus' idea. So he thought it was time to round everyone up and make sure that the key players―so to speak―were all in attendance, as for everyone else, he didn't really care if they came or not. As soon as he's outside he rolls his eyes when he spots Bonnie sitting on the trunk of her car, phone plastered to her ear. He starts to go over to her but stops when he sees her get down, starting to pace back and forth as her free hand waves around, while a scowl settles on her features, clearly unhappy with whoever she was on the phone with and he can't help the smirk that pulls at his lips. Looks like there was trouble in paradise already. He watches with a smile on his face until he sees her frown turn turn into a grin and goes to reclaim her previous spot and before he can stop himself he flashes over to her and grabs the phone out of her hand,

"Sorry Marcel, Bonnie's going to have to call you back." Click. "You can talk to your boyfriend when we're done."

Bonnie blinks in surprise, though she knows she shouldn't be taken back by his latest stunt. And knowing that he thrives on getting reactions from her she decides to smile as she takes her phone back from him after stopping her silencing spell. Though it takes her a while to calm down, slightly flustered by their proximity. It had been days since she had actually seen him and their little talk still had her in a bit of a turmoil. She found herself to be a bit afraid of being in his presence. She wasn't sure when or how she tapped into telepathy but the last person she expected to unlock the ability would be Damon of all people. And Damon's mind was a dark place. She deemed him to be a bit of a one dimensional type of person―since he was never good at hiding his feelings, she could always see right through his bullshit and through all of his bravado he was a bit transparent―but after he accidentally let his guard down, she was proved to be wrong. And he scared the hell out of her. Not that she'd ever admit it. But nonetheless she forces herself to get it together, annoyed at the smirk on his face as he stares down at her.

"Actually you just hung up on my dad."

"Your dad?" Damon repeats as if it's a foreign concept to him. For some reason he never thought that Bonnie had an actual parental figure around. He always thought that―with the exception of Sheila―she had always taken care of herself.

"Yeah, you know, the parent of mine that's had the pleasure of not meeting you." She snarks.

"Cute." Damon makes a face "I just didn't know you-"

"Well for you to know anything about me you'd have to talk to me like an actual person. But you're only capable of doing that with one person. So…" Bonnie shrugs "What am I doing here Damon?"

"You can't take Marcel."

"Excuse me?" Bonnie narrows her eyes not believing his audacity.

"He can't go." He repeats as if he were telling a toddler why they couldn't play with their favorite toy.

"Why not?"

"You know why not."

"Enlighten me."

"Because he knows Klaus."

"Oh, the horror. A vampire knows the 'big bad Original Hybrid'." she uses air quotes "Oh wait…" Bonnie stops and looks at Damon as if she were realizing something, who presses his lips together, hearing a snort that is no doubt from Caroline.

"I know, Damon. I know everything. How he met Klaus. About him and Rebekah. I knew that the minute I took his hand. One of the few upsides to being a witch, when you meet someone you already know what you're getting yourself into. And yes, just like you the moment I got his history I thought he was sent to me and his intentions were to use me." she holds up a hand when Damon opens his mouth "So I acted on impulse. Everything that you're trying to protect me from...in your own weird way" she waves her hand around him "I sent him to his knees for. And then I almost took down his whole empire. Until I learned about Ancestral Magick, and then I backed off. And surprisingly even after I pretty much ruined everything he still tried to talk to me and after a couple of weeks, I let him. I found out that he had no idea who I was besides that I was a witch that he hadn't seen before. He didn't know anything about my line until we talked. And then he found out that I knew Klaus. And you want to know what he did?" Bonnie raises an eyebrow when Damon looks away from her,

"He actually tried to convince me to stay. To not come back here. He wanted me to stay with him and leave everything behind just so I could get away from here because he knows Klaus. And the most messed up part about that is that someone I knew for two months was trying to protect me more than people that I've known for a year or thirteen in some cases. People that I've been bending over backwards for and not doing a damn thing for me in return except bring me ongoing suffering. A guy that I almost destroyed everything he spent decades to build tried to keep me safe and wasn't asking me to do anything for him in return. Hell he even extended his offer to my friends. And just where your mind is now, I jumped to that conclusion as well. So I politely declined and came home, went to Klaus and did a truth spell. Klaus didn't even know that he was alive, so I wiped his memory and called Marcel, took him up on that date that he was so annoyingly hell bent on getting. And," she sighs looking down in embarrassment "I used that to find out if he was bonded or something and nope, all clear."

"How screwed up is that? That every argument you've prepped in your mind, crossed mine as well. I allowed myself to be sure that no guy could actually be interested in me. That he had to have some kind of agenda to want to talk to me. It wasn't because he saw a girl and wanted to get to know her. It was because he was sent to me by someone else to find out what I know and how much I could possibly do for them, find out what I was capable of. I allowed my mentality to get that screwed up. For my self esteem to get that low. It's one thing to be mindful and want to make sure someone checks out but for me to go through a full checklist before I can even think that someone just wants to talk to me is pretty pathetic."

"And before you even bring yourself into this, he didn't even know that I knew you until he saw you and Stefan at my house. But," she pauses her voice taking on a light tone "from what Marcel told me, I'm sure you already knew that." She gives him a faux sweet smile before hopping down from the trunk.

"I'll call you later Care." Bonnie says as she slides behind the wheel of her car, knowing everyone inside is listening. "I'll see you at the ball, Damon." She smiles as she drives off. Leaving him standing there with a perplexed look on his face.

"Shut up." He mutters when he turns around to see Stefan standing there when his lips part, amusement present in his green eyes.

* * *

Much like the last time Damon was at the Mikaelson's home for a ball, he sees guests mingling with glasses of champagne as they all talk as if they were competing with each other for who could be the loudest. The only significant difference―at least to him anyway―from the last time is that Elena is officially his date but he can't help but search for a certain witch who has yet to make her appearance. Due to this he has managed to stay close to the door watching various couples make their entrance, the women with big smiles on their faces as they marvel at the decorations that are suited to the winter season while the men try their hardest to look as though they actually want to be here. He briefly wonders if he had a similar look on his face when he walked past the threshold.

Despite the servers successfully weaving through the crowd, managing to not bump into the constantly moving attendees dressed to the nines; men in perfectly tailored suits or tuxs, women in elaborate gowns, diamond necklaces draped along their necks. If he were to be honest, he wasn't all that impressed. After dining with and being around actual royals there wasn't much that could impress him anymore. Though with that being said a small part of him wished he could be as blissfully ignorant as the rest of them. They were all in the presence of beings that could rip them limb from limb in the blink of an eye and they were none the wiser...well with the exception of a few.

"Oh there's Caroline." Elena says, effectively bringing Damon out of his thoughts as she attempts to tug him along with her so she can go greet the blonde. Frowning when he doesn't budge.

"I'm waiting for Stefan." He explains―not a complete lie, he was surprised to see that his little brother was actually coming having expected him to bow out at the last minute and judging by the way he actually looked like he wasn't dreading it made it clear that he wasn't coming alone―seeing the look she's giving him, attempting to look apologetic when she makes no effort to pretend as if she isn't disappointed in his actions before she lets him go and heads over to the blonde who manages to pull herself away from Tyler and greet Elena with open arms, smiling once they pull away. Starting to gush over the other's appearance while he and Tyler briefly nod out greetings to the other, clearly on the same page about that being the only contact that they deem necessary to give each other. Just because their girlfriends were friends didn't mean they had to be.

Damon turns his attention back to the door and his eyebrows nearly shoot to his hairline when he sees Jeremy walk in and to his surprise he's not alone. And he can't deny that Baby Gilbert did good. From her porcelain skin and stunning blue eyes to her long dark hair and from what he can see, a nice body, solely judging by the way her dark blue dress hugs her figure. He watches as Jeremy makes his way over to the group introducing her as Faye and from the looks on their faces, Damon can tell that they're just as shocked that Jeremy got her as he is. Though Tyler quickly puts on a poker face, probably because of Caroline being right by his side. When he sees everyone suddenly turn their attention to the door, Caroline folding her lips, holding her breath as she flits her eyes to Elena whos eyes are narrowed as she stares at whatever―whoever has arrived he sees Stefan walking past the threshold with a tall leggy blonde with bright green eyes, a hint of a smile on her lips as she surveys the room. He raises an eyebrow watching as they stroll past the group only stopping when Caroline calls his name to which his date looks unbothered by his attention going elsewhere. Though a frown appears on Damon's face when he sees the look she gives Elena, almost as if she's taunting her. He's just about to walk over to join them once Elena flits her eyes to his as if she were asking what he was waiting for when a hush suddenly falls over the room and he can't help but roll his eyes at the reaction until he turns to the doorway, vaguely aware of his grip tightening on his glass as he watches the latest arrivals make their entrance.

She is wearing the hell out of that dress.

That's the first thought that pops into his head when he sees Bonnie walk through the threshold on Marcel's arm. The latter's attention locked on the witch, that annoying grin on his face when he sees the small blush coloring her cheeks after noticing the attention she's getting. He continues to watch with a frown on his face when he sees Bonnie bite her lip at whatever Marcel whispers in her ear, slightly annoyed that he missed whatever was said. After getting over their exchange Damon allows himself to take a closer look at her. From her sensual makeup, dark waves pulled up in an intricate updo as two tendrils hang down on either side of her face, to the silver halter top floor length dress that nearly shows her entire left leg with each step she takes, every now and then exposing the silver strappy heels on her feet that add about four inches to her natural height. And when he finally breaks out of his stupor he sees that his flute of champagne is no longer in his hand but is now on the ground, several shards of glass around his feet while some are embedded in his hand, blood oozing from the tiny lacerations in his palm and index finger. He folds his lips and casually kicks the glass to the side, offering small smiles to the people staring at him in shock before he slips away to the bathroom to clean himself up.

Having seen the whole scene unfold Klaus stifles a laugh raising his glass to his lips watching as the elder Salvatore walks away missing the smirk on his brother's face, the look of amusement on Caroline's and the look of confusion on the doppelganger's. While Marcel simply looks annoyed before turning his attention back to Bonnie, a smile on his face as she looks up at him playfully rolling her eyes when he moves his hand to rest it on her hip as he pulls her closer. Though Klaus is surprised when he sees that Rebekah's attention is still on the server boy, a grin on her face as she listens to whatever nonsense that's spilling from his mouth. While his brothers look mildly entertained before resuming their previous conversation.

…

When Damon rejoins the party he frowns when he sees that everyone has abandoned their previous spot in the foyer and starts to make his way to the ballroom knowing that they are always forced to dance at these things and he blinks when he reaches the threshold. Surprised by the match ups of the dance partners, not what he expected at all. He sees Elena gliding along the floor with Elijah, Rebekah in an intense staring contest with Stefan, Matt paired with Faye, Caroline rolling her eyes at something Kol just said who has a wide grin on his face as Klaus glares at him before his attention returns to...Halle?―whatever her name was, all he could remember about the girl is that she was around the wolf. When that thought crosses his mind he searches around the room noticing that Tyler is noticeably absence to which he shrugs, made no difference to him but he can't help the smile that appears on his face when he sees Marcel looking curiously at the blonde who showed up on his his brother's arm―well when he wasn't glaring at Bonnie's dance partner, none other than Baby Gilbert who's staring at her, eyes half glazed over clearly unconcerned with what his date is doing while Bonnie looks as if she's completely oblivious to his leering. And Damon can't help but grin when Jeremy looks like he's dreading what's to come next to which Damon takes full advantage of, sidestepping the stranger who's arms Bonnie was about to be twirled into. Ignoring the look he gets from the random at his interference.

"So you're going to ignore me?" Damon questions when Bonnie makes no effort to acknowledge him.

"You say it like I was talking to my last dance partner." She retorts looking up at him, making it clear that she was fully aware of the bedroom eyes she was receiving from Jeremy.

Damon's smile turns into a grin when he hears her heartbeat speed up when she finally meets his gaze, clearing her throat as she tears her eyes away from his.

 _He said, if you dare, come a little closer._

"In case no one has told you this yet, you look beautiful."

"Thank you." Bonnie decides to just take his compliment, glancing up at him when he doesn't say anything else.

"Well?"

Bonnie looks at him incredulously, a small laugh escaping her when she sees that he's completely serious "I suppose you don't look awful either." She replies as if it's the most ridiculous thing she's ever said.

"Oh please, you know I'm wearing the hell out of this suit." Damon nearly scoffs, frowning when Bonnie suddenly looks at him as if he's grown a third head. Her whole body going still, her breath catching in her throat.

"What?" He looks down at her, concern clear in his eyes which throws Bonnie off even more than she was before.

"Nothing." She answers quickly turning her gaze elsewhere as she starts to sway along to the music again, making a point of avoiding his eyes.

"You're lying." He lilts, raising an eyebrow when he sees her staring at something over his shoulder, a stormy look in her eyes. Letting his curiousity get the better of him he spins them around and smiles when he sees Marcel's latest dance partner.

 _Not really sure how to feel about it. Something in the way you move. Makes me feel like I can't live without you. Yeah, it takes me all the way. I want you to stay._

He never really took Bonnie to be the jealous type but like she said, there really isn't much he knows about her. Plus, he supposes that he wouldn't exactly be excited to see his girlfriend in someone from her past's arms either. He pushes those thoughts to the side and opens his mouth to ask her something but whatever it was dies on his lips when he sees Elena being twirled around the dance floor, watching as his brother pulls her back into his arms and she doesn't look as if she's in any rush to leave. Looks like he spoke just a little too soon, he muses to himself, a scowl settling on the elder Salvatore's features when he hears the latest lyrics assault his ears, leaving a bad taste in his mouth.

C _ause when you never see the light it's hard to know which one of us is caving._

He was seriously starting to question the song choices at these shindigs. Until he returns his attention to Bonnie and sees that she's looking up at him as if she were studying him.

"Stefan wouldn't do that to you." She says simply, having spotted him and Elena dancing together when Damon promptly spun them around and he blinks, wondering how she even...he lets that thought trail off. Next to his brother, Bonnie could always pick up his true feelings. Hell, she might even be better. _This time being the exception._ His subconscious rallies.

"Oh, I don't doubt that."

"Then you should tell that to your face. You and I both know that you have Elena wrapped around your finger. Quite literally." she adds, not backing down when she sees the flash of anger in his eyes "So if you know that Stefan wouldn't cross that line, why are you so worried?" Raising an eyebrow when he remains silent, merely holding her gaze.

 _"Because I'm the one that's picturing her best friend bent over-"_

Bonnie presses her lips together, forcing herself to look away from his eyes, to focus on anything else but the man in front of her, not wanting to catch the end of whatever he was accidentally beaming into her head. Sucking her breath in when he suddenly twirls her around before pulling her back into him, his hands sliding down to her lower back, just a little to close to comfort. Successfully undoing the wall she just managed to put back up. But before she can comment he returns his hands to the small of her back, retaking her right hand in his left, starting to sway along to the music once again as if their little interlude never happened. When she looks up at him she sees a smirk on his face as he stares at something over her shoulder. It doesn't take a genius to know who was on the receiving end, her assumption being proved to be correct when Damon opens his mouth and she can't help the dread that washes over her. Hoping that they don't make a scene.

"Marcellus."

Marcel smiles as he looks down, fighting the urge to take Damon's bait.

"Let her go, Damon." Marcel says in a low voice so Bonnie won't hear him, knowing that she won't appreciate being treated as if she were a damsel in need of saving. Taking a step forward when Damon doesn't move, he's just about to grab Damon by his throat when Bonnie suddenly turns around to face him. Greeting him with a smile as she easily escapes Damon's hold. He feels his anger slowly start to fade away when she allows him to pull her into him and doesn't protest when he starts to guide her across the dance floor managing to not bump into the other couples until their on the opposite side of the room leaving Damon alone. Further surprised when she doesn't look even a little bothered at his behaviour.

Damon looks on in mild amusement at Marcel's subtle attempt at marking his territory fully expecting Bonnie to frown and start to declare her independence until he sees her with a bright smile that even reaches her eyes as Marcel twirls her around on the opposite side of the room before pulling her into his arms, raising her arms to rest on his shoulders when he slides his hands to her lower back, letting his fingertips rest just above the curve of her ass. Though Damon smiles when she suddenly pulls away, only to scowl when he sees her take Marcel's hand in hers leading him off of the dance floor, out of the ballroom, and down one of the corridors. Leaving Damon to wonder what the hell is in the champagne because there was no way that his Bon Bon ever act like that under normal circumstances. But then again he's never really seen Bonnie in a relationship with someone that was actually worthy of her time―not that he thought that Marcel was, but he had to admit that anyone was better than Jeremy.

"Well she didn't light you up, so that's progress." Stefan smiles.

Damon rolls his eyes annoyed by his brother's constant lurking and turns around to see him standing behind him a flute in his hand, offering it to him to which he immediately takes and downs it in one go.

Stefan raises his eyebrows "Wow, you didn't it even break it this time." A grin gracing his features at the face Damon gives him in response. To which Damon frowns, Stefan never grins unless he's let his ripper out of it's cage and he stares at him curiously before disregarding it. He'd have heard a cry of horror at someone finding a dismembered limb by now if Stefan was off the deep end.

"Don't you have a date to terrorize? Or did she wisen up and realize that you weren't worth her time?" He taunts, even though he finds her to be rather plain looking.

"I'm going to ignore this because I know that you're just in a mood that it's not you that Bonnie was sneaking off with."

"One problem with that theory."

Stefan tilts his head genuinely curious at whatever excuse his brother was about to come up with.

"I have a girlfriend."

"Because your so big on respecting boundaries." Stefan snorts walking away to rejoin his date who immediately wraps an arm around his waist as she continues her conversation with Caroline while Tyler hands Stefan a tumbler filled with brown liquid both talking big gulps ignoring the looks they get from Caroline. While Stefan's date looks as if she's waiting for her own.

"There you are."

Damon turns around to see Elena walking up to him with a big smile on her face, as if she were genuinely happy to see him. And he feels as if he's been punched in the gut. Guilt washing over him as he realizes that he's barely been around her, and that it hasn't really bothered him. Until he remembers who her dance partners were.

"What's wrong?" Elena asks, when she sees the look in his eyes.

"Did you have fun?" He manages to make his voice sound playful.

Elena frowns then playfully rolls her eyes with a small smile on her face.

"Are you jealous?" She grins, a teasing look in her eyes as she wraps her arms around his waist.

All humour leaves his eyes when her question registers.


	4. Chapter 4

**Someone recently PM'd me asking why the extent of Delena's interaction in my story is Elena always asking what's wrong with Damon and I thought it would be best to address it here just in case anyone else peeped that as well. In short (no offense to DE shippers) that is what I see Delena as. Elena catering to Damon and his manpain, stroking his ego or screaming at each other when they're not jumping each other's bones (which will only be alluded to in this story, if any at all). So...um...yeah. Again no offense to those that do ship Delena, that's just my view on their relationship solely going by what was shown on the show.**

* * *

Marcel is just pulling out his wallet to pay his tab when he sees someone slide into the seat right next to him and he stops and sets his wallet down onto the countertop,

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm going to need another drink. Just make it strong."

Damon rolls his eyes when the bartender nearly trips over her feet as she turns to do as he requests. Seriously, what he said wasn't even charming.

"You need to leave." Damon begins without preamble when Marcel merely spares him a sideglance in greeting.

Damon watches in confusion as a range of emotions flash over his former friend's profile until he looks down, a smile slowly spreading across his lips.

"Damon, if there's anyone between the two of us who that has overstayed their welcome. It's you. So until Bonnie makes it clear to me that she doesn't want me around anymore, I'm not leaving. As I've told you before I didn't even know Bonnie knew you until I saw you at her home. Which came as a surprise since she's told me about all of her friends. She even mentioned Stefan in passing. But the name Damon Salvatore never passed her lips despite her unintentional background check. Why do you even care?" Marcel asks after a brief pause.

"I'm just looking out for Bonnie."

"Is that so?"

"Why else would I care?"

"We both know that if I was really a threat Bonnie would have handled me by now. So do you really want my answer to that question?"

"Let's just say that it seems to me that you have a type." Marcel starts when Damon remains silent, making it perfectly clear to him that Damon hasn't changed a bit. Proving him to be the perfect example that maturity does not come with age. And from the looks of it, experience doesn't help the elder Salvatore learn much either. "So if you want to continue to do this pining from afar, living in denial thing. That's fine with me. But let's just be clear," Marcel waits until Damon meets his eyes "I'm not your brother." Afterwards, rising up from his seat, removing a crisp fifty dollar bill from his wallet setting it on the bar before making his way to the door.

"Marcel?" The bartender calls him, disappointment clear in her voice.

"It's for him." Marcel motions to Damon who wordlessly takes the drink that's placed in front of him and downs it, actually enjoying the burn as it slides down his throat. Ordering another round. And another, and another.

Until it fades to black.

When he comes to he's being hauled into what feels like a bed and is faintly aware of a familiar feminine voice and a masculine voice going back and forth.

"How…"

"Marcel called and told me where to find him." The male voice answers dejectedly.

"Marcel?" Elena frowns "He was with Marcel?"

"He said he was having a drink and then Damon came and decided to join him. What happened after that, I don't know."

Damon seriously doubted that.

"But why didn't Marcel-"

"Marcel left as soon as Damon had his first drink. He had something to take care of."

"Okay but that still doesn't-"

"That's something that you're going to have talk to Damon about."

"Stefan, wait-"

Elena stops when he pulls the door closed, followed by his footsteps retreating from the door and down the stairs. And she sighs wondering what was happening. Stefan's never done that to her before. Maybe something's happened. With that in mind she rushes over to her phone and frowns when she doesn't see any new notifications aside from her anal lab partner. Deciding to ignore it she slides her phone into her back pocket and walks over to where Damon is lying, quickly taking his shoes off and picking him up as she pulls the covers to his bed back. Letting him flop back down, a look of pure disappointment on her face as she for lack of better term tucks him in. He's just about to call her name when he sees her walk over to a chair grabbing her purse and a jacket turning off the lights before making her exit and he feels the pull of sleep, not bothering to fight it.

* * *

The next day he wakes up to an empty bed and from the sounds of it, an empty house. He quickly comes to the conclusion that maybe they've already left for school but nixes that idea when he sees that it's half past four and he frowns. Spotting his phone on the nightstand he sees a text from Elena informing him about her studying with Caroline and Bonnie and he immediately sets the phone down and hops out of his bed. Going through what would normally be his morning routine and walks outside surprised to see his car in the driveway. But figures Stefan must've went and got it. Without another thought he slides behind the wheel and peels out onto the road in the direction of the Mystic Grille.

When Damon walks through the front doors of the Grille he finds himself slightly taken back at the sight he's greeted with. There sitting at his regular table were Caroline and Stefan. Which normally wouldn't bother him but he sees Marcel walking over to them setting a pink drink in front of Caroline and another in front of the empty chair next to him. He can't help the uneasy feeling that washes over him. Though lately with Marcel, comes Bonnie so he immediately looks around for the witch but instead he sees Elena walking towards the table sliding into the seat right beside Marcel with a wide grin on her face until she suddenly tenses, letting her eyes roam around the room and she looks as if she's about to throw up when she meets his eyes.

"Elena?"

Damon narrows his eyes when he hears actual concern in Marcel's voice and he forces his features to shift into a neutral expression when he sees him start to follow Elena's line of vision along with everyone else. After a moment Caroline and Stefan exchange glances resulting in Stefan reluctantly getting up from his seat and walking over to where he is standing.

"Damon." Stefan greets his brother in an even tone of voice though Damon can tell that he's more than prepared to step in if he loses it.

"Stefan." Damon mirrors his tone keeping his eyes on Elena who slowly starts to rise from her seat making her way over to join him and Stefan, a look of pure guilt on her face.

"I thought you were studying with Bonnie and Caroline."

Stefan looks at Elena and smiles, clearing his throat to stop the laugh that wants to escape,

"Well technically that's not a complete lie," Stefan starts, deciding to help her out.

"Stay out of this Stefan." Damon cuts his eyes at his brother.

While Elena looks at him as if she's wondering where he's going with this.

"Bonnie's birthday is next week and we were just trying to see what we could do. With everything going on with the cure, we thought it would be nice if we did something for her before things inevitably go to shit." Stefan finishes ignoring his brother's interruption. Smiling when he sees that he's thrown his brother off.

Elena feels a small tug at the corner of her mouth then turns her attention to Damon waiting for his reaction. Not sure how to feel when he only looks mildly annoyed.

"Do you want to join us?"

"Not really." Damon answers looking around the restaurant until he spots a familiar face taking a seat at the bar "Excuse me." He mutters walking around both Stefan and Elena, stopping when Elena steps in front of him placing her hand on his chest to keep him from walking into her.

"You're not mad?"

"Should I be?" He questions, suddenly curious as to why she expects him to be angry.

"Well...no." she says after a moment "But," She presses her lips together when Damon looks at her.

"Elena, you're old enough to make your own decisions, if one of them is lying to me then…" He lets his sentence trail off with a shrug.

"Damon,"

"Like I said, old enough to make your own decisions." He nods walking around her sliding into the seat next to an old acquaintance leaving her standing there with a conflicted look on her face.

"When I was told a Salvatore was looking for me I wasn't expecting the man child."

"Oh, I missed you to Luce." Damon smiles at the insult he's greeted with.

"What do you want Damon?"

"Not here."

"If you think I'm going anywhere with you alone-"

"A little forward of you." He teases.

"I wouldn't touch you if my life depended on it."

"Now we both know that's not true."

"I've met three of your bed partners. Two of which have made it very clear that your little brother is better in bed than you are. And you killed the other before she got the chance to even meet him. Ripped her heart right out of her chest. So you'll have to excuse me for not wanting to go anywhere near your bed." Lucy takes a sip of her drink "Now that that's settled. Are we going to continue to talk about nothing, or are you going to tell me why I'm in this waste of space town?"

"Your little cousin is on a suicide mission." Damon replies after hearing several snickers.

"What?" She turns to face him, her features twisted into a scowl.

"Bonnie Bennett? This tall," he raises his hand to mimic her height "green eyes, almost as much as a pain in the ass as you were when you were going through your little-"

Lucy rolls her eyes "It's been _five_ years, get over it." she growls, earning several raised eyebrows from a group of vampires hanging on every word of their conversation "Now get to the point."

Damon presses his lips together and looks at her. Watching in satisfaction when she groans muttering several expletives as she gets down from her seat. Once he sees that she's halfway to the door he pulls out a twenty and slaps it on the bar. Sending a smile to Marcel who chuckles and turns his attention to the phone he's just pulled out of his pocket.

"Hey Bon,"

He frowns watching as Marcel silently excuses himself from the table and slips down the hallway out of sight, while his brother, Caroline and Elena all start to talk among themselves.

"What's going on?" Lucy frowns when he walks up to her.

"Have you ever heard of Silas?"

Damon tenses watching as gray clouds start to roll in from nowhere until the sun is completely blocked a strong breeze kicking in, when he looks back to Lucy he sees that her eyes are locked on something in the direction of the Grille to see Elena talking to Matt as he cleans a table.

Lucy feels a range of emotions wash over her, the most prominent being disappointment. She understood that Bonnie was loyal but she wasn't aware that it was to the point that she was willing to go that far over the edge. Though she shouldn't be surprised considering the stories Bonnie has shared with her about things she had done for Elena in the past but this...

She lets that thought trail off, as much as she didn't want to do this to her cousin, as far as she was concerned, family came first. And with that being said, Bonnie was her priority.

"Luce," Damon calls slowly reaching out to touch her shoulder ignoring the shock that greets him, not removing his hand until she turns to him.

"Either you talk her out of it or I'm stepping in, and you won't like my solution." Lucy says her eyes flitting back to the doppelganger waiting until realization dawns on the vampire's face, disappearing before he can respond.

"Shit." Damon mutters. He knew Lucy could be cut throat―it was actually one of the things that he liked about her, before Bonnie she was the latest of Emily's descendants that he considered to be his favorite―but he didn't expect her to be willing to go that far.

"Well what did you expect, Damon?"

Damon groans and reluctantly turns around to face the source of the voice, greeted by the sight of a witch―of a different variety―staring back at him with a hint of a smile on her lips. And he finds himself wanting nothing more than for her to go back to whatever hole she crawled out of...which he considers strange considering she _is_ a carbon copy of the woman that he shares a bed with every night. But when he allows himself to look at her he sees the one thing that makes them stand apart, at least when she's not impersonating her.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Lucky for you, I've decided to help." Katherine smiles.

"I'm going to have to pass on that." He says dismissively.

"I want it just as much as you do."

"And that's exactly the problem."

Katherine rolls her eyes,

"Think about it Damon. You let me in, I can take it and use it as a bargaining chip. Klaus wants it for the same reason you do. Different goals but for the same person. You get what you want. I get what I want."

"You had me...and then you lost me."

"It's either we help each other out or you go and do this your way. And as much as you hate to admit it, you know that I'm better at this type of thing than you are. Unlike you, I think big picture. I have backup plans…" she smiles remembering a previous conversation "I explained this to you before. And despite you throwing a wrench in them and thinking you got the better of me, you didn't, you had one job and you failed. Protecting your sweet, innocent, precious Elena." her mouth curling around her knockoff's name "How is that going by the way? No, I'm genuinely curious to hear your answer." she says when he cuts his eyes at her "Because from the outside looking in, it seems to me that you've finally figured out that there's not much to look at when you're all up close and personal." She smirks when she sees the flash of resentment in his eyes.

"And it seems to me like you don't have a life." Damon replies "Now if you'll excuse me." He turns his back to her, stopping in his tracks at the next thing that comes out of her mouth.

"What if I told you I know how to break the sire bond?" She calls out after him.

He keeps his back to her for a full two minutes to turn around bracing himself to see a smirk or for her to out right laugh in his face. Instead seeing that she looks completely serious.

"Five hundred years, countless turns. You think I haven't had this problem before?" She questions taking several steps closer when he gives her a look of disbelief.

"Oh get over yourself."

"Coming from you, that's rich." she retorts "Besides who said I was even talking about you?" she asks "Though that can be up for debate." She mutters after mulling it over.

"Prove it."

"We both know that's not how this works." she shakes her head "You have until the day you leave for Nova Scotia to make your decision. Stefan knows how to reach me." She informs him as she walks backwards before speeding away.


	5. Chapter 5

Bonnie wakes up to a jolt in the back of her neck that signals she's in the presence of another supernatural. Without giving it a second thought she sits raising her hand ready immobilize them just in case they have plans to attack only to drop it when she sees Lucy staring back at her looking as if it's taking everything in her to not blow the roof off of the place

"Lucy, you scared the hell out of me." Bonnie says letting herself fall back down onto her bed, raising her hands to her face to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

"Hm, maybe I should be in Silas' place then." Lucy remarks deciding to just get to the point of her visit. Afterall, she was never one to stay in one place longer than necessary unless her visit was one in which she decided to take instead of one where she was requested for a job or a favor.

Bonnie's eyes pop open and she shifts into a sitting position "How-"

"How?" Lucy narrows her eyes, watching as the young witch looks away.

"I'll give you one guess."

Bonnie frowns coming up blank, she'd only gone into details with Damon but she knows that he wouldn't say anything. Finding the cure was the latest way to save Elena and he would never jeopardize anything when it came to Elena.

"I don't know." She whispers sounding like a child.

"Wow, you really are on a suicide mission." Lucy criticizes not believing what's going on.

Bonnie frowns remembering those same words being directed at her a few days ago.

"He told you?" Bonnie questions staring at her older cousin.

Lucy looks at her in disbelief "That's all you have to say?"

Bonnie opens and closes her mouth several times, before giving up on trying to find something to say, still not being able to wrap her mind around the fact that Damon called and told on her.

"This is just...wow." Lucy whispers genuinely stunned.

Bonnie watches as her cousin starts to pace back and forth in front of her bed with a stunned expression on her face, and she feels as though she's slipped into an alternate universe. She's never seen Lucy taken back by anything, especially anything that's in relation to anything supernatural. Though considering that she was friends with Katherine and apparently is an acquaintance of Rebekah, Bonnie supposes that she would be just as hard to shock as well after being around them. But that didn't explain why she was still silently pacing five minutes later.

"Luce...you're scaring me."

"I'm scaring you?" Lucy looks at her "I guess he actually knows how to get through to you then."

Bonnie frowns "What?"

"I can't believe this." Lucy smiles.

"Elena-"

"Screw Elena, Bonnie!"

Bonnie blinks taken back by her outburst.

"Honestly, what has this girl done for you for you to literally be willing to die for her?"

"She's my family."

"No she's not." Lucy snaps "Because if that were true there is no way in hell that she would be okay with you doing something like this. Or did she not know?" She asks deciding to give the doppelganger the benefit of the doubt.

"I told him not to tell anyone."

Lucy looks unimpressed by her excuse.

"Elena is as old as you are, you are not her mother, she is not your child. If you feel the need to have to pretend otherwise then something is wrong." Lucy pauses to let that sink in before continuing "Elena is not a human anymore and she does not need to be treated like she's made of glass. She's not the first person to be turned that didn't want to be a vampire and she won't be the last. Hell, if anything Elena _needs_ to be a vampire. Unless you've been over exaggerating." Lucy adds when she sees the hurt look on Bonnie's face "I get that you want to save her and protect her because she's your 'family' but to be honest the blonde one is more of a friend to you than she is. Out of your friends...Stefan, Elena and Caroline, Caroline was the one who's hurt I felt the most when Damon told me about your suicide mission. Your boyfriend was just…" Lucy blinks "you would've thought that someone had told him his little empire was about to come crashing down. And you've been together for what? Two minutes?"

Bonnie looks at her.

"As much as I want to put a ward on this house so you can never leave again. I'm not. You're not a child. You're a grown woman free to make your own choices and you need to make your own mistakes. But what I will do is this. If I find out that you lost your life for Elena, I will take that cure and destroy it. She loses her chance to be human just like her best friend lost her life. And she'll have to live with that guilt for the rest of her _immortal_ life. And before you even think about resurrecting yourself, don't count on that. As soon as I have to put flowers on your grave, I'll find a way to either keep your ass on the Other Side until you find peace or you'll be reincarnated, in a life that is nothing like this one and you'll have no memory of anyone in this one. No spark, no scratch at the brain if you somehow cross paths with them. Nothing. Not even me. Not that it will matter anyway. So if you want to continue with this for Elena. By all means go. By the way the spirits are talking this is something that you need to do, learn your lesson the hard way. So I'm staying out of this one but I'll leave you with this."

Bonnie tenses when Lucy sits down on the foot of her bed.

"The fact that Damon Salvatore of all people has more concern for your life than you do and apparently values it over getting what his little girlfriend craves more than anything," Lucy chuckles "says more than I can even put into words. I wouldn't even know where to start." She states getting up from the bed.

"Lucy…" Bonnie sighs, watching as she stops at threshold but doesn't turn to face her "I'm not doing this for Elena."

Lucy raises an eyebrow.

"I'm doing this for Abby. I know that that may not be much better. It's probably even worse, considering what a piss poor mother she's been to me. But I feel like I owe it to her. She wouldn't even need it if it weren't for me."

"You're right." Lucy agrees turning to face her "It doesn't make it any better but what I said about Elena still stands "And a little heads up about the cure" she pauses waiting until she feels as though she has Bonnie's undivided attention "you might want to look into that a bit more before you start rationing it off."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you need to do more research before you go after it." Lucy answers over her shoulder as she walks away. Smiling when Bonnie doesn't bother to call after her.

Bonnie sighs and allows herself to fall back down to her bed, staring up at her ceiling lost in thought until she nearly falls out of her bed when her phone screams at her from her nightstand. Rolling her eyes already knowing from the ringtone who it is.

"..."

"You're going to answer your phone and give me the silent treatment?"

Bonnie frowns hearing the smile in his voice.

"What? Did Lucy ward you in your own house?"

Despite knowing that he's joking going by the amusement in his voice, Bonnie wonders just how much Damon has inserted himself into her family's lives over the years for him to have guessed that that was Lucy's first solution but still remains silent.

"Okay, well when you're done throwing your little hissy fit-"

"Why did you tell Lucy?" Bonnie interrupts him.

"..."

Bonnie sighs "Damon."

"Did it work?"

"She doesn't want me to look for it."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Was it supposed to work?"

"No, I just tracked down the most flighty witch in the world just because I felt like it. Of course it was supposed to work." he snaps "The thing is; I don't like talking to Lucy as much as Lucy doesn't like talking to me."

"I doubt that." Bonnie smiles "Lucy genuinely hates you. What happened between you two by the way?"

"Lucy adores me." He states ignoring her question.

"You've literally known her for her whole life and you still don't have her direct number."

"I have your's."

"I'm not Lucy."

"Clearly."

"Excuse me?"

"Lucy knows self preservation."

"Damon we both know that you don't want me to be like Lucy. If I was, you wouldn't still be here. You'd be watching over Stefan from the Other Side screaming your head off because he flipped his switch and abandoned Elena as result."

"..."

Bonnie smiles at his silence taking it as a victory.

"So, what happened between you and Lucy?"

"I killed her first boyfriend."

Bonnie closes her eyes letting out a long breath.

"She was sixteen and he was a vampire, Bonnie. An old one. Like older than me old."

Bonnie grimaces "You mean by vampire years...right?"

"How old do you think I am?" He asks and she can picture the pinched look on his face.

"Too old to have my number and act the way you do." She snarks.

"Ha, ha." He replies dryly.

"I don't know" she answers, her eyes going towards the ceiling as she tries to come up with an age, eventually she comes to twenty four but stops, deciding to go for an answer that she knows will get a reaction from him "thirty?" She makes her answer sound like a question.

 _Click._

Bonnie blinks and takes the phone away from her ear, laughing when she sees that he actually hung up on her.

"Hey Care," Bonnie finally greets the vampire lingering in the hallway, tossing her phone to the side.

Caroline frowns emerging from the shadows and walks into the bedroom closing the door behind her before flopping down on the bed. Not bothering to ask how she knew it was her.

"What the hell was that?"

"What was what?" Bonnie shifts so she's lying down on her side facing the vampire.

"It sounded like you were laughing...and not _at_ Damon. And before that it almost sounded like you were flirting."

"I don't flirt with Damon," Bonnie denies "I say something to him and he manages to find a sexual innuendo in my words and it turns into a fight from there."

"So what's this I hear about a suicide mission?" She asks deciding to abandon the subject, Bonnie had a point.

Bonnie sighs "Care…"

"Don't 'Care…' me."

Bonnie raises an eyebrow "You've gotten better at imitating my voice."

"Bonnie,"

"What do you want me to say Caroline?"

"I want you to tell me that Damon was just messing with Lucy. I want you to tell me that you didn't know that this would end up with me having to bury you." She shrieks losing control of her emotions for a bit.

Bonnie looks at her for a moment, feeling her heart clench when she sees a single tear roll down Caroline's face dropping onto her pillow.

"Why are you so willing to die?" Caroline asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

"I'm not going to live forever Caroline. You know that, right?"

"And I'm not going to bury you until your one hundred and ten years old with great-great- _great_ grandchildren to keep me busy."

Bonnie grins, laughing when she sees that Caroline is completely serious.

"One problem with that."

Caroline frowns.

"Vampires can't procreate, remember?"

"Well if anyone around here actually has a magical vagina it's you so I'm sure you can figure something out."

"You just have an answer for everything don't you?" Bonnie retorts through a grimace.

"Is that a real question?"

Bonnie relents,

"To answer your question, it's not a suicide mission. Everyone is just over exaggerating. You know the Professor?"

Caroline nods.

"Full of shit."

Caroline smiles despite not wanting to.

"Because of him everyone is led to believe that you have to jump threw hoops and do all this extra crap when in reality all I had to do was flip through Qetsiyah's Grimoire and do the spell to find the hunter's mark. Which as you know is on Jeremy. So that's handled."

"But Silas-"

"From what I've read in Qetsiyah's Grimoire he's more of an ass than this evil mastermind everyone is making him out to be. The real problem is just who might be on this island, protecting it. And well that's pretty much it. Except Lucy just kind of tipped me off that," she stops and decides to mouth the last part "there isn't exactly enough to go around."

Bonnie raises her fingers to her lips as soon as she sees Caroline's eyes widen.

"That's not..."

"Nope." Bonnie shakes her head.

"So basically Damon just put a hit on his own girlfriend for no reason?" Caroline questions through a small smile.

Bonnie gives Caroline a look when she starts to laugh "That's not funny Caroline." She attempts to scold her but ends up smiling.

"So you're not going to die."

"Apparently I'm under contract for at least another eighty years." Bonnie replies dryly.

"If there was a way that you could be immortal and still be a witch, would you do it?"

"Do you know something I don't know?" Bonnie dances around her question. It's not that she wanted to leave Caroline, but she didn't know if she wanted to live forever either.

"Not yet." Caroline smiles.

"Well, find it by time time we hit twenty one. One of us needs to be legal." Shrieking when she's suddenly rolling off of the edge of her bed. Blinking in surprise when she finds herself hovering over the floor before face planting.

"Ooh," Caroline winces at the loud thump, rolling over until she can look at her from the edge of the bed "you okay Bon?" Feeling the urge to run when she hears a growl in response.

 **-X-**

Stefan nearly laughs when he walks into Damon's room and sees his brother staring at his reflection,

"You do know that she was kidding, right?"

"I would ask if you had anything better to do but based on how you've been inserting yourself into my life lately, I'm just going to go ahead and assume the answer is no."

"It's annoying, right?" Stefan asks leaning against the doorway "Having a brother that's somehow just always there. Inserting themselves into your personal life." Stefan grins when Damon looks at him "Now imagine that...except he's only doing that so he could take the girl your in love with, instead of trying to help."

Damon looks down feeling a brief twinge at the barb but then smiles.

"I don't want Elena." Stefan says when Damon opens his mouth watching as shock clouds his brother's features before shifting into one of disbelief "I just think it would be interesting to see you in a relationship with someone that has a foundation of something other than lust or revenge for something that happened over a century ago. Having my brother's girlfriend being someone that only can assume our...skill sets as opposed to actually knowing is only a pleasant bonus."

"For the last time. I am _not_ into Bonnie."

Damon frowns when Stefan smiles in response.

"When exactly did I say I was talking about Bonnie?" Stefan raises an eyebrow, answering the unvocalized question.

Damon stares at Stefan for a full minute, fighting the urge to wipe the smirk off of the ripper's face at his continued silence.

Stefan shakes his head when Damon finally opens his mouth, tapping his ear when Damon frowns at him in response. Watching the unreadable expression he gets from his brother after Damon listens clearly picking up on the sound of the front door opening and closing. Once he's unable to decipher the look he pushes himself off of the door frame and starts to make his way down the hall to his own room, nodding out a greeting to Elena as he passes her on his way who smiles in response before turning to continue her way to Damon.

"Damon?"

Damon shakes his head in an attempt to clear his conversation with Stefan out of his head and looks up to see Elena staring back at him concern clear in her eyes before anger quickly takes its place to which he frowns.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?"

"That this would end with me having to bury Bonnie."

Damon looks at her in confusion then comes to the conclusion that she must have been eavesdropping along with everyone else.

"Because Bonnie's not going with us."

Elena looks at him not understanding his answer.

"Lucy talked her out of it and on the one hundred percent chance that she changes her mind and decides that she's going to go with us anyway, we'll already be gone before she can even try to come with us. I already talked to Rebekah and convinced her to get Klaus or Elijah to pull one of their witch contacts and I'm going to get Lucy to do a blood donation before she leaves for her flight tommorrow morning."

After Damon's explanation registers, Elena begins to feel the fight slowly leave her body but in its place she feels an emotion that she doesn't want to put a name to when it hits her that she's not the only woman that's on Damon's mind anymore. Aside from Stefan, she was the only one that Damon actually gave a damn about when it came to their wellbeing. Despite their issues and claimed hatred for each other, they went all out to save and protect each other. Damon was tracking Stefan the whole summer without her knowing, letting her believe that he didn't care about Stefan. And claiming that he was doing it to protect her when she found out about his little secret. To which she bought after their first attempt nearly got them both killed.

But still.

All of this just hit a little too close to home.

She remembers how he kept things from her, taking away and completely disregarding her choices. Claiming that it was for her own good.

And now here he was with Bonnie. Going behind her back and keeping things from her to do the same. At the realization of what that meant she felt as if the floor was slipping from beneath her feet. Her heart plummeting to her stomach, feeling as if the air was being sucked from her lungs at the next words that come from her boyfriend's mouth.

"Bonnie is going to be fine." Damon assures her as he walks up to her holding her stare "She's not going anywhere anytime soon. So you don't have anything to worry about."

Elena closes her eyes as she feels his lips against her forehead, trying to relish in the moment but as she watches him leave the room she knows that that last part wasn't exactly true.


End file.
